Duvel Moortgat Brewery has reached an agreement to buy Liefmans Brewery. Both Belgian breweries produce highly praised beers.
Liefmans has been in existence since Jacob Liefmans established his brewery in Oudenaarde in 1770, but the brewery declared bankruptcy and stopped production in late 2007.
Duvel acquired a large portion of the assets of Liefmans, including all the machinery, all brands and recipes. According to a company press release, Duvel will concentrate on Liefmans brown ales and fruit beers brewed in Oudenaarde. Several of the beers have gone back in production and will return to distribution in the near future.
Duvel remains in negotiation for the real estate in Oudenaarde and will invest to revitalize the production site and the well-known visitors’ center when the acquisition is complete. The price of the transaction, including real estate, is 4.5 million euros, or $7.1 million.